The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, has said Nigeria\u2019s ambition to become a $1tn economy hinges on providing quality internet access to its citizens, particularly the youth.\n<\/p>\n
Speaking at the launch of the Fibre-to-Hostel project at the University of Abuja on Wednesday, Tijani reaffirmed the federal government\u2019s commitment to connect all educational institutions across Nigeria to reliable, high-speed internet.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI know they have this, I think they\u2019re doing this in about 12 universities as a start-up. They\u2019re launching about four or five before the end of this month. But I know the minister said it all. It\u2019s an unrepentant transformation.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I know before the next several months, all educational institutions will be connected to the internet to give our students the opportunity to learn the way education should be delivered, a modern way of learning, giving you the infrastructure you need,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The minister praised President Bola Tinubu\u2019s vision for economic growth, stressing the link between connectivity and opportunity.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cNigerian students, you have a president who has your back. President Bola Tinubu has your back. It\u2019s creating infrastructures that you need to be the best in the world.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we grow a Nigeria that is truly a $1tn economy, it means that for the teeming youth population, we have job opportunities for you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Tijani described internet access as both an enabler and leveller, offering equal opportunities regardless of one\u2019s background.\n<\/p>\n
He stated, \u201cFor the first time in the history of humanity, we have a technology that offers and gives opportunity to all of us on an equal level. And when you take that into consideration, you probably will then understand why access to good quality internet is important.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
To inspire the students, he shared success stories of Nigerian tech entrepreneurs who rose from humble beginnings.\n<\/p>\n
The minister stressed that young Nigerians today have unprecedented access to knowledge and opportunity thanks to technology.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cYou live at a time where you do not need to wait for anyone to spoon-feed you. Even while you are in school, technology offers the opportunity for you to access knowledge that we couldn\u2019t access when we were young.\u201d <\/p>\n
On the government\u2019s promise to expand nationwide internet access, he said, \u201cWe want every Nigerian to have access to a minimum of 25 Mbps regardless of where they live. What you have here today is meant to give you a minimum of 50 to 100 Mbps, more than what we\u2019ve actually promised to the entire country.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
He urged students to hold internet service providers accountable. \u201cIf you get access to it, if it doesn\u2019t work, report to me. Do you know how to find me? Of course, you\u2019re young people, social media. Find me on social media, complain, and I\u2019ll make sure that Galaxy Backbone and our partners do all they need to do to make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tijani concluded by charging students to leverage the opportunity and use it to build Nigeria\u2019s future.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hand down the responsibility to you that this internet access we\u2019re giving to you that you leverage it for good,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, described the Fibre-to-Hostel initiative as the start of many transformative projects aimed at improving Nigeria\u2019s education sector.\n<\/p>\n
He urged young Nigerians to take full advantage of the opportunities the government is providing to help transform the country.\n<\/p>\n
Alausa commended Tinubu\u2019s leadership, noting that the difficult decisions taken in the past two years have led to significant infrastructure improvements, economic stability, and enhanced security.\n<\/p>\n
He stressed that education is the foundation of any society and stressed the importance of providing quality education to develop critical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and informed citizens.\n<\/p>\n
The minister explained that the introduction of high-speed internet to student hostels will give students access to digital textbooks and journals, facilitate seamless research, and promote collaboration, thereby enhancing the overall quality of education across the country.<\/p>\n
The Acting Vice Chancellor of Yakubu Gowon University (formerly University of Abuja), Patricia Manko-Lar, praised the innovative leadership of the Ministers of Education and Communications, saying Nigeria is fortunate to have such visionary individuals driving change.\n<\/p>\n
Manko-Lar commended the Galaxy Backbone initiative for providing high-speed internet access to student hostels, highlighting its potential to bridge the digital divide and enhance learning opportunities for students of all backgrounds.\n<\/p>\n
Manko-Lar expressed gratitude for the government\u2019s investments in infrastructure, noting that the university now benefits from 24-hour electricity through the solar mini-grid project, which complements the new digital connectivity to improve the quality of education.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, has said Nigeria\u2019s ambition to become a $1tn…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139419,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3161],"tags":[60561,51952,60562,60563,60564,60565,3082,60566,44263,60567,53,60568,16,15,60569],"class_list":{"0":"post-139418","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-1tn-economy-nigeria","9":"tag-bosun-tijani","10":"tag-broadband-nigeria","11":"tag-education-and-connectivity","12":"tag-fibre-to-hostel","13":"tag-galaxy-backbone","14":"tag-internet","15":"tag-internet-access-in-nigeria","16":"tag-nigeria-digital-economy","17":"tag-student-internet-access","18":"tag-technology","19":"tag-tinubu-tech-policy","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom","22":"tag-university-of-abuja-internet"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114586972530924180","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}